The perfect size and fit ensures optimum comfort and power output when riding, whether you are commuting daily, cycling on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the countryside, racing or touring around the world. We are all individuals with different torso length, shoe size, length of arms and legs, the beauty of a custom built frame is that it’s built to suit you. A one off, crafted to your exacting requirements.

Ordering your first bespoke cycle or frame can seem like a daunting prospect, where do you start? But we try to make it as enjoyable an experience as possible for you, a bespoke bike is a considered purchase and many of our customers have wanted one for many years.

First of all get in touch by email or phone and tell us what you’re looking for, what you’ll be using your new Mercian for, what you have in mind – we’ll have a chat and answer any questions you may have, taking you through some of the initial options and ideas.

We’re a small team here at Mercian so you won’t be speaking to, or dealing with lots of different people throughout the process.

We ask for a non-refundable deposit of £600 for a frame build (£1200 for stainless frame or a ‘Special build’ non standard model) and £1200 for a complete bike, this deposit books your place in the build queue and we can start to work on filling in all the detail.

Once you’re happy with the frame options, we start to build the bike order specification based on your preferred frame model by adapting the geometry and tubing to suit your individual needs. Then the components are chosen to suit your requirements and budget. We will then draw up a quote for your approval.

FRAME

Once we have the frame model, tubing, sizing and geometry sorted, we design a bikecad drawing with all the dimensions and angles for you to approve and take away and then you get to choose the colour….

COLOUR

Often the most difficult of the decisions. Buying bespoke gives you endless options, but most people have an idea in mind, with our 63 ‘standard’ hand mixed colours to choose from or custom colour mixing option available we can help you to achieve the look you want. Airbrushing, stencils and bespoke transfers all available options, we will work with your ideas to achieve what you want.

The order is then processed, allocated an individual frame number and the tubing and braze on components boxed with your name and frame number ready for the frame order to come to the top of the queue. (This is the longest part of the wait). When the  order comes to the top of the queue and is ready to go into the hands of one of our frame builders we will contact you to let you know.

When the frame is built, checked and moves into the sprayshop we will ask for final payment balance on a frame order. Painting usually takes 2 – 4 weeks.

COMPLETE BIKE

For complete bike orders, we will order the components for you once the frame is being building so the frame builder has your equipment to make sure the fit, braze ons and clearances are right for your chosen components. For this reason we will need an interim payment before ordering the components (depending on the value of components to be ordered). We aim to be as competitive as possible and have a number of suppliers, wholesalers and manufacturers who we can order from to achieve the best prices for your bike build.

The bike build takes approximately 5 – 6 weeks from frame build to bike completion depending on the complexity and the balance is due prior to delivery/collection.

Customers wishing to supply their own components – we will need the components at our workshop before the frame build begins. Unfortunately we won’t be able to advise you on all your individual component parts if you are supplying them, we would ask that you take advice from your supplier to ensure compatability.